Sky to cover Royal Wedding in 4K

Sky has confirmed it will broadcast the Royal Wedding live on Sky News in Ultra HD via its Sky Q platform. Coverage will start at 9am on May 19th, and will also be simulcast on Sky One.

“Sky continuously searches for ways to innovate and bring better coverage to its customers,” commented David Gibbs, Director of Digital News and Sports Products. This new functionality allows Royal Wedding viewers greater insight into one of the biggest live events of the year, wherever they are. We’re excited by the software’s potential and ability to give audiences new ways of consuming content.”

“We’re incredibly excited to be the first and only broadcaster to televise a Royal Wedding in UHD and to offer those watching the ceremony across the country expert analysis, innovative technology and bespoke coverage on mobile,” added John Ryley, Head of Sky News.

The BBC and ITV will also cover the event, but Sky is the only broadcaster to offer 4K coverage.

Meanwhile, Sky News has also revealed it will use pioneering cloud-based machine learning and media services to name guests as they enter the chapel, and enrich the video content with facts about the attendees.

Accessible in the Sky News app or via skynews.com, the ‘Royal Wedding: Who’s Who Live’ functionality is innovative in the way it uses machine learning to enhance the user experience of a live-streamed major news event.

To enable this unique experience and deliver this service at scale, Sky News is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and two AWS technology partners, GrayMeta and UI Centric. As guests make their way into St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, AWS will capture live video and send it to cloud-based AWS Elemental Media Services for multiscreen viewing optimisation. An on-demand video asset, including catch-up functionality, will also be generated. In parallel, Sky is combining the GrayMeta data analysis platform with the Amazon Rekognition video and image analysis service for real-time identification of guests and tagging with related information.

Finally, Sky News is using the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network to unify the content for rapid distribution to viewers. UI Centric has designed and developed the front-end application and video player to enhance the experience and user interface accessed by Sky News viewers.

Speaking on the feature, Gibbs said: “Sky continuously searches for ways to innovate and bring better coverage to its customers. This new functionality allows Royal Wedding viewers greater insight into one of the biggest live events of the year, wherever they are. We’re excited by the software’s potential and ability to give audiences new ways of consuming content”.